Olla
A feminine name meaning "cooking pot" in Spanish.
Name Census estimates that about 53 living Americans carry the first name Olla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Olla today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Olla births was 1921 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Olla. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Olla is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ollas were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Olla. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
53
~ 1 in 6,467,063 Americans
Peak year
1921
25 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1952 SSA rank
#4,808
Tracked since 1886
Census
Olla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Olla, which placed it at #36,520 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Olla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olla is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (40.1%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Olla described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Olla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 117
- Black or African American40.1% · 87
- Two or more races2.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 4
Popularity
Olla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Olla from the 1880s through to the 1950s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 150 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Olla by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Olla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ollas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Olla
The name Olla has its origins in the Latin language, with roots that can be traced back to ancient times. It is believed to have derived from the Latin word "olla," which referred to a type of clay pot or vessel used for cooking and storage. This connection to a household item suggests that the name may have been initially associated with domestic duties or the home.
In ancient Roman culture, the name Olla was not particularly common, but it did appear in some historical records and inscriptions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 1st century AD, when a woman named Olla is mentioned in a funerary inscription discovered in the city of Pompeii.
As the Roman Empire expanded and Latin culture spread across Europe, the name Olla likely traveled with it. However, its usage remained relatively obscure throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, with only a few documented examples of individuals bearing this name.
One notable figure in history who carried the name Olla was Olla of Merania (c. 1180-1237), a Bohemian princess and the wife of King Philip of Swabia. Her name was sometimes spelled as "Olla" or "Olga," reflecting the fluidity of name spellings during that era.
In the 16th century, a Spanish nun named Olla de la Cruz (birth and death dates unknown) gained some renown for her religious writings and her role in establishing a convent in Andalusia.
Another historical figure associated with the name Olla was Olla Coxhead (c. 1700-1770), an English painter and engraver known for her portraits and landscapes. She was active in London during the mid-18th century.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Olla Humphry (1810-1890) was a British artist and illustrator who specialized in book illustrations and worked for several prominent publishers in London.
While the name Olla has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has persisted as a unique and intriguing option, carrying with it a connection to ancient Latin culture and a sense of domestic warmth and nurturing.
People
Olla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Olla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Olla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Olla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Olla going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 6,467,063 US residents.
Is Olla a common name?
We classify Olla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 552 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Olla most popular?
The single biggest year for Olla was 1921, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Olla is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Olla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Olla, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Olla in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Olla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Olla leans strongly female. 204 people counted with this name were female (95.8%), compared with 9 male bearers (4.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Olla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Olla is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (40.1%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Olla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Olla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (117 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Olla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Olla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Olla in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Olla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Olla in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Olla can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Olla as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.